Pranab tries to woo Trinamool Congress

IANS/Kolkata

Finance Minister and the ruling UPA presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee relaxes with his elder sister Annapurna Banerjee as other family members pose for a photo inside her house in Parota village, around 200km northwest of Kolkata yesterday

United Progressive Alliance presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee yesterday announced he would quit as finance minister on June 26. He also sought to reach out to the Trinamool Congress, appealing for all undecided parties to support his candidature.In an obvious reference to the Trinamool Congress, a key ally of the Congress in the UPA, Mukherjee said except one, all parties which are partners in the central government have supported him.“Those giving outside support to the government like the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, have also supported me,” he said outside his South Kolkata residence.Parties not associated with the UPA, like the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the All India Forward Bloc, the Janata Dal-United and the Shiv Sena also have backed him, Mukherjee said and reiterated his appeal to all undecided parties to extend their support to him for the top job.“Those who are yet to take a decision, I request them to support the UPA nominee,” Mukherjee said.The Trinamool Congress, second largest constituent of the UPA, is yet to announce its stand on the presidential choice after its preferred candidate, former president A P J Abdul Kalam, declined to contest. However, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has so far been firmly opposing Mukherjee’s bid.Earlier, speaking to reporters at his ancestral village Mirati in Birbhum district, Mukherjee said he would quit his central government and the Congress Party posts.“I have been in politics for a long time. After becoming a presidential candidate, I won’t have any party, I will not be in politics. This is a constitutional tradition,” he said.“I will relieve myself of the post of finance minister on June 26. I could not take such a decision earlier because the prime minister (Manmohan Singh) was out of the country. I have to perform some duties in the prime minister’s absence,” said the veteran politician, considered the number two in the government and its chief trouble shooter.Mukherjee would return to Delhi today evening.“Then I will put in my papers. I am still a Congressman and a member of its highest policy making body - the Working Committee. I will send my resignation from this post also to the Congress president (Sonia Gandhi). I shall then start my campaign.”“A big chapter in my four-decade old involvement in party politics has ended,” said the 76-year-old leader.Mukherjee is pitted against former Lok Sabha speaker Purno A Sangma, who has the backing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and some constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), as also the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Biju Janata Dal.Assam’s regional party, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), has also decided to support Sangma, a senior party leader said.“The party had decided to support Sangma unanimously as he represents the northeast, he is an independent candidate and he is a tribal candidate. We have never supported any presidential candidate who was supported by the Congress in the past. So we have decided to support Sangma,” Apurba Bhattacharjee said.The party took the decision at an executive committee meeting on Friday evening, he said.“P A Sangma is the most ideal candidate for the presidential election. He had diverse experience - as the speaker of Lok Sabha, as a federal minister and he is the most prominent tribal political leader of the country,” said Bhattacharjee.The AGP has three MPs and ten state legislators.